What Are The Benefits Of Moving To A Cloud PBX IP Phone System?
Better collaboration among employees and with clients is something you should be achieving with your business phone provider. But overall productivity shouldn’t have to be sacrificed for it in this day and age, and your business will drastically improve in both aspects by switching to a cloud PBX IP phone system. To help explain why, this article will break down what a PBX phone system is, as well as cloud phone system features and how combining them with Internet Protocol transport technology has revolutionized business communication.
An Overview Of The PBX Phone System
A Private Branch Exchange, or PBX phone system, is a private phone system that is primarily used within a business or organization. Calls can be made both internally and externally, and it allows practical features that businesses find valuable, like: call forwarding, call transfer, call queue, auto-attendant, voicemail, and others. It also has inherently business-friendly capabilities, like supporting multiple phones over one line, which, along with free calls between internal users, reduces costs.
A PBX phone system comes in two main categories: the traditional analog, and the newer IP method.
Analog PBX phone system:
This is the intra-office PBX phone system that has been around for several decades. It operates through a physical – now “old fashioned” – copper-wired telephone line with phone service run by local or regional phone companies, and all of the hardware is contained within the business’s physical location. They have none of the bells and whistles you can expect with more advanced, modern-day phone systems, features like: multimedia services, sending voicemails to email accounts, or contacting remote workers from one centralized business phone number. Also, the analog PBX phone system has become so obsolete that many of the professional-grade business phone providers do not offer it anymore, and you will probably wind up upgrading if you have it currently.
IP PBX:
Internet Protocol PBX, also known as VoIP PBX – voice over internet protocol PBX – is a newer way to host a PBX with even more features, and generally at a lower cost because most of the hardware is eliminated. Instead of using obsolete copper wiring, the PBX uses the internet to travel, converting voice to data and data back to voice on opposite ends of the telephone receiver. This is obviously beneficial for remote working, as the system can function outside of a centralized location and with devices the company chooses (employee cell phones, for example), as well as other business-essential applications like video conferencing, messaging, etc.
2 Subtypes of IP PBX: On-site, and Cloud Phone System
An IP PBX is superior to the outdated analog form because it allows your business to not be constrained by a limited number of outside telephone lines (trunks) or internal telephone devices or extensions. IP PBX also facilitates cost-effective business expansion into more complex features such as ring groups, queues, digital receptionists, voicemail, reporting, and Intercom or paging. But there are two subtypes of an IP PBX phone system in regards to how it is managed, which is either on-site or hosted in the cloud. A little information about how each works will show you why the cloud phone system is easily the best that your business can adopt.
IP PBX On-site Phone System:
Similar to an analog PBX phone system, the IP PBX and its voice over internet protocol technology houses the servers used to manage both outgoing and incoming calls, as well as its feature-laden control systems, on-site. Your business still has access to all the great connectivity and features as an IP PBX cloud phone system gives, like being able to use mobile devices, having voicemail converted to email, as well as all of the multimedia support, but there are substantial more costs associated with the initial investment of setup, and with maintenance, too. You will need a dedicated IT team to handle configurations and solve any issues that arise causing downtime, which could be a real challenge for small or even mid-sized businesses.
IP PBX Cloud Phone System:
With a cloud phone system, your IP PBX is fully managed for you by your business phone provider. You have no need for purchasing expensive on-site equipment or spending extra resources on an IT team as it is all hosted online. The only thing your business has to do is provide the physical phones or communication devices and have an internet connection, and even the entire setup and installation process can be completed over the computer and in a short period of time. Your cloud phone system service provider routes all calls, both internally and externally, by converting voice to data and data back to voice or through a public switched telephone network.
Besides the huge savings from not having to purchase hardware or hire a dedicated IT team to manage it, the productivity of your business is further enhanced by the following other advanced features of a cloud phone system:
- Saves Time: Expanding your network can take weeks or even months with an on-site PBX phone system, but only minutes with a cloud phone system. Since it is all software-based you can add as many as you need with a few clicks of a button.
- Monitoring and Analyses: With a cloud phone system you can monitor things like ongoing and missed calls, and even playback calls all in real-time. Analyzing employee performance and track workflow is simpler.
- Less Downtime: With your service’s huge network of transit providers and redundant infrastructure, even a natural disaster can’t keep your lines down for long, unlike an on-site IP PBX or analog phone system.
Kinetic By Windstream
With Windstream business internet and cloud phone system service, your organization will achieve the connectivity and productivity it needs to scale and grow. Contact us for a quote today at connectnationwide.com/windstream/